telling stories using tarot

The Water Sprite and The Tree Nymph – Story Time

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Pull at least three cards and use them to… tell us a story about love at first sight.

Sad Story Tarot by Kwon Shina

The Water Sprite and The Tree Nymph

Once upon a time there was a handsome water sprite that had become inextricably tangled up (The Devil) within the reeds and weeds of a relationship with an evil overlord. (Emperor)

The overlord was cruel and manipulative, always controlling the water sprite’s every action and word through guilt and anger, and using the sprite to spread discontent over the land and hurt those that lived and played too near the sprite’s pond. (Hierophant)

The water sprite did not realize he was unhappy in this relationship, and had been within it so long that he had become deaf to his inner voice when it tried to speak up and tell him things were not right. Yet, the more time went on, the more the sprite withdrew from others in order to protect them from the overlord’s evil ways. (The Hermit).

Then one day while within the embrace of his solitude, the water sprite spied a tree nymph that he’d never seen in that part of the woods before. From his pond, the sprite watched the nymph dancing among the trees with fascination, peering from the shadows with wonder and awe. (The Hanged Man)

The water sprite watched from afar for a long time, and then came a day when the tree nymph danced much closer to the sprite’s pond.  In the water sprite’s excitement at this new proximity to the object of his fascination, he forgot himself and shared his admiration for the tree nymph with the overlord (Extra Card), who immediately began to simmer with jealous anger.

Making grand plans for using this situation to his advantage later on, the overlord sent the water sprite out to seduce the nymph, demanding that he get the fascination for the tree nymph out of the sprite’s system. (The Fool)

The overlord had used this tactic on him before, but the water sprite was so eager to follow the shinning spark in his heart that he leapt at the chance the overlord had given him. He seduced the tree nymph (The Lovers), and found that his need for the nymph did not become sated as it had in the past when this had happened.  Instead, each touch and taste only caused his need for the tree nymph to grow ever stronger (Wheel of Fortune). And thus he seduced the nymph again and then again, and with each seduction he became even more entangled within his feelings and fascination.

This enraged the overlord, who ranted and raged his displeasure and used everything in his vast arsenal to tear down the water sprite and rip him apart (The Tower) so that he could then bring the water sprite “back in line”. As a part of his plan to force the water sprite into submission, the overlord cast him out, severing their relationship, and the water sprite was left battered and bruised and lost in the forest of his guilt and emotions. (The Moon)

The tree nymph, having heard something had happened and that the water sprite was upset, approached the water sprite to offer comfort and friendship (Temperance). And, while doing so, unknowingly spoke magic words of wisdom that broke the spell of the overlord’s hold upon the water sprite (The Sun).

The reeds and weeds that the water sprite had been entangled within were cut away with these words, and the water sprite found that he could stretch himself tall and breathe fresh air once more. (Strength)

With this newfound strength, he could see clearly that the fascination that he had for the tree nymph was not fascination or obsession at all. It was love! (Death)

When the overlord came back to collect the broken water sprite, having believed he was leaving the sprite tangled up and withering in the tangled reeds of guilt and misery, he found instead that the water sprite was no longer tangled at all and had, in fact, slipped completely from the overlord’s reach. (Justice)

The water sprite had found his love, and his heart shone with it bright as any star in the sky (The Star). The tree nymph had given the water sprite his freedom, and the water sprite began a new journey. A journey out of reach of the overlord’s grasp. A journey filled with nurturing and love as he begins to endeavor to show the tree nymph just how good they could be… together. (Empress)

DECK USED: SAD STORY TAROT BY KWON SHINA

 

A Boy’s First Lesson – Story Time

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Pull at least three cards and use them to… tell us a fairy tale story.

I Funghi più Belli del Mondo

A Boy’s First Lesson

There was once a young boy that spent all of his time under his father’s thumb being ground into the dirt. (Justice)

One day he decided to run away from home. He packed up his cherished possessions and tucked them away in his school bag, then in the dead of night he climbed out the window and slipped off into dark. (Chariot)

At first the night was very dark and he couldn’t see a thing. He felt that he was fumbling around in the dark. But the longer he was out in the night, the more his eyes adjusted until the starlight became shimmering flames in the sky to light his path. (The Star)

As he became aware of his surroundings, he realized things weren’t so bad after all. Sure they had been scary at first, but now under the soft light of the stars, he felt hope that he would do well on his own. (Wheel of Fortune)

When the moon rose, she cast deep shadows upon the road that caused the boy a bit of anxiety (The High Priestess), but he continued to move forward, unwilling to let go of his assertion that he could find something better for himself than what he’s left behind. (Strength)

As he walked along the side of the road, he came upon a tree whose branches stretched over the road, and from this tree’s branches hung a small spider spinning this way and that in the breeze. (Hanged Man)

Wanting to help the little spider, he pulled out the tin he’d used to hold his finest trinkets. Making room in the tin, he brought the tin up under the spider and caught the spider inside. He closed the lid and tucked the tin back away. (The Fool)

The boy wanted to help the spider, and so he did what he thought was right. (Judgement and Emperor) He continued on into the night until he found a place to camp for the night beneath a large oak, thinking that the oak would be the perfect place to set the spider free.

Pulling out the tin, he popped open the lid only to find the spider was no longer inside, and curled in the corner of the tin was a withered and crumbling husk of a tiny human-like creature with delicate, gossamer wings. (Death)

And thus, the boy’s first lesson in becoming a man is two-fold.  First, things are not always what they seem.  Second, sometimes you have to leave things as they are. What’s “right” for you may not be right for everyone, and by trying to conform others situations and beliefs to your own standards, you can sometimes do more harm than good…. no matter how altruistic your intentions may be.

DECK USED: I FUNGHI PIU BELLI DEL MONDO

The Forgotten – Story Time

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Pull at least three cards and use them to… tell us a story about a pair of shoes.

Lighteater's Tarot

There’s smooth wood under the his soles as he sits on the porch. Once upon a time he was young and spry and new (Ace of Cups). But heat and cold and time has taken their tole upon him now and where once his soles were flat and strong, now they are brittle and curled slightly up at the toes. (Ten of Swords)

That’s because the leather is dry now. And as it dried, it made his toes curl up a bit, as giving him a different view over time. When first set here, he could see out over the wooden planks and watch the children play in the yard, the come and go of the mailman each day, and the passing of cars on the old dirt road.

But as toes curled, his view changed. Winter came and he watched the snow fall as temperatures plummeted, and then the world became warm again. Where once he could see the grass, by the time summer came again, he could no longer (Four of Swords). He couldn’t watch the boy that mows the lawn and dream about those grass stains anymore, instead his view began at the road and the trees on the other side, and just a peek of the sky (Four of Cups).

And he waited. Loyal and patient. He waited for someone to remember about the old pair of sneakers once new, and now long hidden under the rocker on the porch.

But winter came again and the cold gripped the world. The leather tightened further, dried out by the chill in the air (Nine of Swords), and his view again changed.

Now he can see the sky and the trees, but by the time summer comes again, the road is now gone. He sees planes that fly overhead, and watches the fall of rain as it splats and patters on the ground he can no longer see. Long nights filled with crickets songs and days filled with the squeak and slam of the screen door as the children come and go.

One day a windstorm came (imagery from the Three of Staves) and tossed branches from the trees nearby onto the porch, and during the cleanup that follows he is finally found. Alas! He is discovered! Picked up and brought inside, he is cleaned and moisturized, and his leather sighs in relief as oils are rubbed in (Princess of Cups) and he’s set upon the table to dry (Temperance).

For a full day, he watches the light come through windows and the comings and goings of the big, happy family (Ten of Cups). He is picked up by many, and tried on by some, and as night falls he thinks of his porch and the crickets and misses the moon (The Moon).

The next day, he is taken up and brought back outside, but he is not put on the porch. Instead, he is taken beyond the yard and along the road past the trees he’s known for so long (The Chariot). In town, he is handed to another and by the end of the day he is among other shoes (Seven of Cups), sitting on a box in a display window in town.

Then a day came while sitting in the window that a woman (Queen of Coins) and her small son stop to look inside and the little boy points to him through the glass (imagery on the Six of Cups).

They come inside, and in short order he is fitted on the little boy’s feet (Two of Cups). The boy wiggles his toes, tickling the shoes and causing a spark of glee, and the boy giggles happily in response to the energy created (Ace of Cups with Four of Staves).

The boy does not take off the shoes, but walks around the small shop with them on his feet as his mother deals with haggling and payment, and then… he tastes the joy of service after years of misuse (Six of Swords) as the little boy wears him out of the store and a new adventure begins. (Eight of Staves)

DECK USED: LIGHTEATER’S TAROT

 

Rule of Three – Story Time

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Pull at least three cards and use them to explain…
…and that’s why dividing by three is illegal.

Forest Creatures Tarot

There was once a fairy princes that always longed for adventure and spent much time looking out at the horizon beyond the Lands of Faerie daydreaming about the day she could take off and find her own adventures. (Two of Wands)

With her friend, the Blue Jay, she made fantastic plans of where she wanted to go and all of the things that she wanted to do.  They discussed the world beyond the Lands of Faerie and the Blue Jay told the fairy princess many stories about how fantastic and adventurous life was beyond the horizon’s veil. (Three of Wands)

One day, after a particularly trying bit of conflict with her father, the fairy princess had had enough, and she began making plans to leave the Lands of Faerie for the world beyond the veil.   With her friend, the Blue Jay, she plotted her course and then slipped sneakily free of the big wise Oak her family had called their home for centuries.  (Eight of Cups)

Together they traveled a long distance, further and far beyond any she’d traveled before.  She trusted the Blue Jay to keep her safe and guide her way, but when they reached the veil and the gate that would lead beyond it, she was confronted by the gate keeper.

He asked her if this is what she really wanted?  If she abandoned the Land of Faerie, she would not be allowed to come back.   He set before her nine walnut shells and told her to choose only one.  That the answer would be hidden beneath the walnut shell, if she would turn it over to look. (The Hierophant)

Instead, she divided the nine into three and turned them over to reveal the hidden objects within.  In one was a teardrop.   Another held a gold coin.  In the third was a locket that held  pictures of her family inside.

Believing this meant that she was destined to go through the veil, she darted forward through the opening and through the veil, casting Faerie aside forever… and disappeared into the ether of nevermore.

And in the Land of Faerie, this is why it is illegal to divide by three.  For if the princess had chosen just one walnut shell, she would have received the locket alone.  A locket filled with memories to remind her of all that is good.   Instead, she chose three, and the message was confused in the translation… and she was lost to her family and the Land of Faerie forevermore. (Nine of Swords)

DECK USED: FOREST CREATURES TAROT

The Three Sisters – Story Time

/ Twist the Leaf / 1 Comment

Pull at least three cards and use them to…
…tell a  story about an argument between siblings.

Fey Tarot

Annabelle, Beatrice, and Nora are three sisters living under the same roof with completely different goals.  Living together is stressful because they each have such different personalities.

Coming into the kitchen one morning, the ever impulsive Annabelle (Knave of Pentacles) announces, “I’m taking the car today.  None of you need it and I have a hot date with my boyfriend (Three of Pentacles) later to play DND with some friends (Ten of Pentacles).”

Beatrice, the benevolent older sister of the three (The Empress), looked over with a frown from where she was cooking at the stove, “You are going to need to wait until later.  I need the car to go to the grocery store and run some errands. You can have it when I’m done.” (The Chariot)

At that moment, soft spoken Nora lifts her head off the table where she’d appeared to be napping. (Four of Swords)  “I don’t feel very good,” she says, “Do you think someone could take me to see my counselor?” (Three of Swords)

Annabelle knows better than to argue with Beatrice, but she’s seething on the inside at this interruption in her plans today.   So it’s not a surprise that when the youngest sister, Nora, speaks up that the scowl on her face is supremely displeased and her glare in Nora’s direction is seething. (The Seer)

“You don’t need to go see the counselor,” snaps Annabelle, worried that now her plans are dashed and she won’t be able to have the car at all. “Stop being such a whiner!”

“Annabelle!” Scolds Beatrice with a glare at her selfish younger sister. “WHAT has gotten into you?   Why don’t you go study for that exam that you have to take on Friday. (Eight of Pentacles) You can have the car when I get back.”

Beatrice then turns to Nora and comes to sit down beside her.  Putting her arm around the youngest sister, she gives the girl a comforting hug.  “I think that the office is closed today, Nora.  But how about you come with me to run errands and I’ll take you to the pet shop to visit with all the animals. (The Magician)  You really like that.   Then you and I can come home and veg out in front of the tv and talk about what’s bothering you. (Two of Chalices) Okay?”

Nora leans her head on her sister’s shoulder and nods.  Beatrice always knows what to do to help make her feel better and keep Annabelle from getting too mean (Strength), and having some time alone with her without Annabelle’s chaotic energy always feels good (Four of Wands).

As Annabelle grouses under her breath and heads upstairs to study (Eight of Pentacles), Nora follows Beatrice to go get on her coat.  Beatrice’s promise to go see the animals has created a spark of excitement within her for the day of head that she’d been lacking just a short time earlier (Queen of Wands).

DECK USED: FEY TAROT